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Australian surfer Matt Formston. Photo: YouTube / Bonsai Films At the age of 5, Australian surfer Matt Formston was diagnosed with macular dystrophy, a rare eye condition that left him with only 3 percent of his vision. Instead of letting that limit him, Formston decided he would dedicate his life to proving that he could do anything. Now, the 46-year-old is a world champion paralympian, cyclist, author and motivational speaker - and he's just added another record under his belt - as the first ever blind surfer to conquer the Nazare break in Portugal - otherwise known as the biggest wave in the world. His feat is the subject of a new film called The Blind Sea. Formston told RNZ's Kathryn Ryan the film is all about proving that people with disabilities can achieve incredible things. "I...

By Kanishka Singh, Reuters Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: Brandon Bell / Getty Images via AFP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was briefed on Tuesday by US intelligence officials on alleged threats from Iran to assassinate him, Trump's campaign said. "President Trump was briefed earlier today by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence regarding real and specific threats from Iran to assassinate him in an effort to destabilise and sow chaos in the United States," the campaign said in a statement. The campaign said that intelligence officials have identified that Iranian threats have "heightened in the past few months" and US government officials were working to protect Trump and ensure the elections were not impacted. Iran has previous...

Ryan Routh. Photo: AFPTV / AFP The man accused of staking out Donald Trump's Florida golf course with a rifle was indicted on Tuesday (local time) on a charge of attempted assassination of a political candidate as prosecutors alleged he intended to kill the former US president, federal prosecutors said. Ryan Routh, 58, was already facing two gun-related charges after authorities said he pointed a rifle through a fence at Trump's golf club in West Palm Beach, Florida on 15 September while the Republican presidential candidate was golfing there. He has been ordered to remain in jail to await trial. A federal prosecutor said on Monday that the US Justice Department would ask a grand jury to approve the more serious attempted assassination charge, which carries a maximum of life in prison. ...

By Doina Chiacu, Reuters Democratic vice presidential nominee Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Republican nominee Senator JD Vance of Ohio. Photo: AFP Democrat Tim Walz and Republican JD Vance will face off next week in the only scheduled US vice presidential debate, a chance for each man to reinforce his running mate's message to voters just weeks before the 5 November election. Here are some details about the event: When and where is the debate? The 90-minute debate, hosted by CBS News, will take place on 1 October at 9pm ET (2pm NZT 2 October, after daylight savings time begins here this weekend) in New York City, a Democratic stronghold that is the former home of Donald Trump, the Republican presidential candidate running against Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Who are the mo...